Welcome to the review for Part 1 of Eleanor The Queen by Norah Lofts. Part 1 consisted of pages 1-99, and review questions 1-4.

Synopsis: Part 1 began with Eleanor's father being "killed by the plague" which wasn't true as far as the reader knew. At this time Eleanor's friend who was also her suitor (and was supposed to marry upon her fathers arrival) was killed by her father's closest advisor. At this time he was also plotting how to marry her. He came up with a plan to prevent war by marrying Eleanor to the King of France Louis VII. She moved to France to live with him, and became very unhappy. This was the time of the crusades so Louis thought it well to start a crusade of his own to Jerusalem. Eleanor was considered nosey, and unruley by Louis' court, and was kept away from him as much as possible. Louis' advisors tried to make it so that she wouldn't be able to go on the crusade with Louis, but she figured out how, and she took the oath of the crusader. Part 1 ends with Louis and Eleanor divorcing after a failed crusade, (a threat of divorce by Eleanor), a fail to produce an heir, but a second daughter, and Eleanor moving back home to her loved Aquitaine.

1.) It is learned early on that Eleanor spent a lot of her time with her father learning everything that a man would learn. She also knows that regardless of what she wants, it is the best idea in order to prevent war.

2.) Louis' advisor let's him know that his wife is not to meddle in affairs of the state, and that he has been divinely selected to rule France, and Aquitaine. He assured this by giving Meridon to the man who didn't deserve the land, and by going directly against the queen.

3.) Peter was to carry the Gospel to the Gentiles, whom, until that moment, he had despised. The rose stood for the good thing, the thing he wanted strength for the war. The spider stood for what he hated, female interference. When he dropped the spider he lost the rose, and Peter had rebuked him just as God rebuked Peter for turning away from what was offered just because it was offered in an unacceptable form. Eleanor thwarts his plans by getting her army together, and joining the crusade.

4.)Louis' last mistake was to try to take control of Jerusalem, and he allowed the troops to stay behind and the Turks attacked, and killed half of the army. In my opinion Eleanor does not deserve the blame for the massacre at Phrygia because she did what she felt would protect her people. in the long run, and Louis' half of the army was mostly killed due to his poor decision making.

I hope you are enjoying the book so far, and I hope to have you back next Sunday for part 2 in this series. Feel free to leave your thoughts below!